Last month, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) declared that it was placing the rusty patched bumblebee on the U.S. endangered species list. The listing would have taken effect…
The rusty patched bumblebee became the first-ever bumblebee species to be protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act this week, and the first wild bee of any kind in the…
An investigation into two Sumatran plantations operated by Indonesian food giant Indofood, a joint venture partner with PepsiCo, has found evidence of numerous human rights abuses including the use of…
For nearly five months now, Liana Azeredo avoids walking the streets of Rio de Janeiro during the day. Even under the intense heat of the city, she also prefers long…
Sitting on his verandah in Laikipia, northern Kenya, Dr. Dino Martins, 38, a Kenyan entomologist with experience with malaria, tick fever, liverfluke and other vector-borne diseases, talks about the need…
Pesticides are ubiquitous and important; but how safe are they, and who answers this crucial question? According to a paper published in the journal Bioscience, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s…
Cornfields in Iowa. Photo credit: David Gonthier. To protect natural ecosystems in the long term, some conservationists advocate "land sparing," in which farmers intensify agricultural practices to boost yields, theoretically…
Monarch butterfly population is second lowest on record The shrinking of the migrating monarch butterfly population. Image by: WWF. The world's migrating monarch butterfly population has bounced back slightly from…
Bumblebees exposed to pesticides suffered adverse effects to their foraging behavior, according to a new study co-authored by Nigel Raine and Richard Gill in the journal Functional Ecology. Bumblebees (Bombus…
In recent years the evidence has piled up that neonicotinoids—a hugely popular group of pesticide—may be at least partly responsible for ongoing bee and pollinator collapse. But new research in…
Scientists have discovered that blueberry plants visited by more diverse bee species increased their seed number, berry size and fruit set, and quickened their ripening time. They hope their findings…
Neonicotinoid pesticides, which have been increasingly blamed for the collapse of bee populations, may also impact human's developing nervous system, according to a review of research by the European Food…
Also see our Top 10 Environmental Stories of 2013. The discovery of a new tapir species is number seven in our first ever Top 10 List of Happy Environmental Stories.…
Rachel Carson and, more recently, Sandra Steingraber have successfully drawn popular attention to the risks of pesticides on wildlife. Many of the environmental consequences of pesticides have now been well…
As the world’s population increases and agricultural frontiers expand into native tropical habitats, researchers are working furiously to understand the impacts on tropical forests and global biodiversity. But one obvious…
In a large room that used to house aquatic mammals at the Minnesota Zoo, Erik Runquist holds up a vial and says, "Here are its eggs." I peer inside and…
Europe's grassland butterfly population has plummeted in the past two decades, new research published on Tuesday shows, with a near halving in the numbers of key species since 1990. The…
A shocking new study finds that losing just one pollinator species could lead to major declines in plant productivity, a finding that has broad implications for biodiversity conservation. Looking at…
While recent research (and media attention) has focused on the alleged negative impacts of pesticides on bees, the problem may be far broader according to a new study in the…
A widely used insect nerve agent has been labelled a "high acute risk" to honeybees by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). A similar assessment by the EFSA on three…
On 15 April more than 100 fishermen demonstrated in the streets of Fort de France, the main town on Martinique, in the French West Indies. In January they barricaded the…
Nearly a third of managed honeybee colonies in America died out or disappeared over the winter, an annual survey found on Wednesday. The decline—which was far worse than the winter…
The EU has banned three neonicotinoid pesticides (imidacloprid, clothianidin and thiamethoxam) linked to the decline of bees for two years. The ban will apply to all flowering crops, such as…
New Zealand's Department of Conservation (DOC) is facing a backlash over plans to aerially drop a controversial poison, known as 1080, over the habitat of two endangered, prehistoric, and truly…
England's dropping hog population begins to look dire. European hedgehog. Photo by: Gaudete. As hedgehogs all over the United Kingdom wake up from their winter hibernation, activists will be carefully…
Honey bee (Apis mellifera) collecting pollen. Photo by: Jon Sullivan. Exposure to commonly used pesticides directly disrupts brain functioning in bees, according to new research in Nature. While the study…
Organic vegetables for sale in Argentina. Photo by: René Piamonte. The global farmland area certified organic has expanded more than threefold to 37 million hectares since 1999, according to new…
Honey bee (Apis mellifera) collecting pollen. Photo by: Jon Sullivan. Following a flood of damning research on the longterm impact of neonicotinoid pesticides on bee colonies, the EU is proposing…
European common frog (Rana temporaria). Photo by: Richard Bartz. Commonly used agrochemicals (insecticides, fungicides and herbicides) kill frogs outright when sprayed on fields even when used at recommended dosages, according…
Honeybees in an apiary in Germany. Photo by: Björn Appel. The evidence that common pesticides may be partly to blame for a decline in bees keeps piling up. Several recent…
